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London (CNN) - Several passersby confronted Usman Khan, the suspect in the London Bridge terrorist attack, who was shot down while wielding a fire extinguisher and an apparent narwhal fang. After the attack, stories of individual acts of courage arose.
- What we know about the attack on the London Bridge
Dramatic videos of the attack show heroic actions even though Khan, suspected of killing two people in the terrorist attack, carried a fake bomb attached to his body.
In the confrontation on the north side of the London Bridge, the convicted terrorist was sprayed with the fire extinguisher, while the man holding the long fang directed him against the attacker.
At least one of the men who subjected the attacker is a former prisoner, who spent time in jail with Khan, according to British media reports.
In a video you can see how the group knocks him down, and one of the spectators seems to have disassembled Khan from one of the two knives that he thinks was tied to his hand. Police shot Khan after the passersby had moved away.
A man and a woman died in Friday's attack, police said. Three other people, a man and two women, were injured and remained hospitalized. None of the victims have been identified.
Everyday heroes
The attack began just before 2 pm local time, at an event in Fishmonger's Hall, on the north side of the London Bridge, organized by the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge.
The event, which Khan attended, was for alumni celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Red Learning Together. The group, a network of academics and criminal justice organizations, is affiliated with the Criminology Institute of the University of Cambridge, according to the event's website.
According to the PA news agency, the 28-year-old had threatened to fly the building just before 2 pm. "We believe that the attack began before he left the building and headed for the London Bridge," said Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu.
Amy Coop, a witness to the incident, said on Twitter that the man holding the fang had removed it from the wall of the historic Fishmonger's Hall.
“A boy who was with us at Fishmongers Hall took a 5 ′ narwhal fang from the wall and went out to face the attacker. You can see it standing on the man (with what looks like a white stick) in the video. We were trying to help the victims inside, but that man is a #LondonBridge hero, ”he wrote on Twitter.
A man and a woman died in Friday's attack, police said. Three others, a man and two women, were injured.
The man is believed to work there and "is originally from Poland," the Times of London newspaper reported.
A maintenance worker who witnessed the attack told PA that he spoke with one of the men who helped bring down the armed man. "Some of the boys who were on him were former prisoners and all had been to the Fishmongers' Hall," he told the PA news agency. "The guy told me he was in prison with the attacker."
Tom Gray, a tour guide who tried to stop the suspect, told ITV, a CNN affiliate, that the attacker was "wielding two knives, one attached to the hand with duct tape." After other spectators had held the suspect, Gray said he tried to "kick the other knife from his wrist" and then kicked him away over the bridge.
Lloyd Griffiths, 35, who was on a bus on the bridge, said he saw that the attacker had a large knife.
“I saw the shine of a knife or a sheet of metal, it was bright. It was a big leaf, it wasn't small, and then they locked me in the bus, people tried to tear down the man, they tried to fight him, ordinary people jumped out of the car, trying to fight him, ”said Griffiths.
The confrontation ended when the armed police arrived. "Then the police broke in with guns, screaming," before shooting the man, Griffiths added. Several emergency vehicles quickly arrived at the scene while a crowd fled the area.
The investigation continues
Before Friday's attack, Khan resided in the Staffordshire area in England, about 240 kilometers northwest of London, authorities said.
Questions have been raised about his early release from prison last year with an ankle monitor.
Khan was among a group arrested in London for an "al Qaeda-inspired plot" to bomb the London Stock Exchange, UK police said at the time.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in 2012, but served less than half of his 16-year sentence and was released in December 2018.
The sentencing judge called Khan and two others "more important jihadists" than the rest of his group, adding that, in his opinion, they would remain a "significant risk" to the public, even after his sentence.
Usman Khan, 28, is suspected of perpetrating the "terrorist incident" on the London Bridge. (Source: West Midlands Police)
“In my opinion, these criminals would continue to be, even after a long period of imprisonment, of such a significant risk that the public could not be adequately protected when managed under license in the community, subject to conditions, by reference to a date default release, ”said the judge during the sentence.
To adequately protect "public safety," the judge said that Khan's release under license could only "be decided, at the earliest, at the end of the minimum period" in prison, and imposed an indeterminate sentence for his release.
This means that a Parole Board would have to decide on his release after a minimum of 8 years in prison. Khan appealed his sentence and in April 2013 his sentence was revoked from an indeterminate sentence, which was abolished in 2012, to a certain extended sentence.
A given extended sentence carries a fixed term and means that one fulfills one part in prison and the rest in the community.
The Parole Board of Great Britain said in a statement on Saturday that it appeared "to have been automatically released with a license" without a parole hearing.
Police investigations in Staffordshire continued on Saturday. According to PA Media, a police photographer and search teams entered a three-story apartment building near the city center on Saturday morning, while two uniformed officers kept a cordon outside the building.
The UK government said it was reviewing the sentences handed down to the most violent criminals, Interior Minister Brandon Lewis said in a television interview with ITN, a CNN affiliate, on Saturday.
“Are we imposing sentences hard enough for the most violent criminals? That is something we want to review and we will do it as soon as we can, ”he said.
Rob Picheta and Sebastian Shukla contributed to this report.
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